National Air and Space Museum

Photographed against a dark blue background is a studio image of a set of cream-colored ceramic dishware bearing a pattern of star-shapes in blue, yellow, and green. There are several pieces, including a platter, a gravy boat with a ladle, a creamer and s

This Space Age Tableware Is Now a Prized Collectible

A passion for space exploration influenced how one family set the dinner table

An uncrewed spacecraft with three main components is seen orbiting above an asteroid.

An Innovative Spacecraft Makes Contact With an Asteroid

A new book tells the story of the mastermind who directed NASA’s daring OSIRIS-REx mission

Photographed against a black background is a robot in profile wearing a silver uniform and golden-colored helmet.

A Robot Just Might Be an Astronaut's Best Friend

When they needed a helping hand in orbit, astronauts could count on NASA’s reliable Robonaut.

A stunning panorama of the Martian desert with a twilight sky. The landscape appears light rust and dull blue and is covered with boulders. A hill can be seen on the right.

For 20 years, Robots Have Inhabited Mars. What Keeps Them Humming?

NASA’s robotic exploration team has proven they have the right stuff

A small silver pin shows a smiling Snoopy, a cartoon dog, wearing a spacesuit with a large clear glass helmet, performing his iconic happy beagle dance.

The Story of Snoopy in Space

How a cartoon beagle helped popularize NASA’s Apollo program

The pitch black night is illuminated by a bright white-hot rocket engine plume, which illuminates clouds of smoke surrounding the launch pad.

How Commercial Landers Are Changing Lunar Exploration

These companies are taking a faster, cheaper approach to landing on the moon

art001e000192 callisto~orig.jpg

Five Things On Board NASA's Artemis I Mission

Although the Artemis I mission doesn't have any astronauts riding along, there are other items on board to commemorate the occasion and conduct research.

This view of Gemini VII from VI-A in December 1965 shows the spacecraft’s orbital configuration.

Gemini VIII’s Near-Disaster

On March 16, 1966, the Gemini Vlll astronauts faced the first life-threatening, in-flight emergency in the short history of the U.S. human spaceflight program.

Christina Koch (left) poses for a portrait with Jessica Meir while preparing for their first spacewalk together. (Image courtesy of NASA)

A Seat in the Cockpit: Recognizing and Replacing Biases with Gender Inclusive Language

The era of "manned" spaceflight ended long ago, and the continued use of this language diminishes and erases six decades of women's contributions to spaceflight

Artist’s conception of the Perseverance rover sampling rocks on the floor of Jezero crater. The rover also carries the Ingenuity helicopter (not shown) that can fly in advance of the rover and scout out high priority rocks and outcrops for the rover to visit. (NASA)

Is There Life on Mars?

To get the answer, we have to know what to look for and where to go on the planet for evidence of past life. With the Perseverance rover set to land on Mars on February 18, we are finally in a position to know.

Alan Shepard on the lunar surface of the Moon during Apollo 14 mission. Photographed by Edgar D. Mitchell still inside Antares. (NASA)

Lessons from Apollo 14

The Apollo program should be remembered as much for landing the first humans on the Moon as it is for countless demonstrations of problem solving and ingenuity, of continual fine-tuning and honing of expertise, which enabled NASA to set even more ambitious goals with each successive mission.

Jack Schmitt picking up the gnomon after collecting samples. This view is to the west toward the Lee Lincoln Scarp. Apollo image AS17-140-21496.

Small Steps and Giant Leaps in the Apollo Lunar Landings

The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 14 mission, which included the longest moonwalk without a rover, is a good time to show how traverses away from the lunar landers progressed from one mission to the next.

Artist’s rendition of Ingenuity flying on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Driving Mars Exploration: How the Perseverance Rover Will Pave a Path into the Future

It’s been nearly 60 years since the first spacecraft were sent to Mars, and it’s inspiring to reflect on the progress that has been made since then. If all goes according to plan, the landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will mark the start of NASA’s ninth surface mission on the Red Planet.

Perseverance Rover on Mars ( NASA Illustration)

Six Ways to Celebrate Perseverance This February

Be a part of NASA's Perseverance rover landing this February with these six ways to celebrate the mission to Mars.

Carruthers holding one of the film cassettes that the astronauts brought back from the moon from his lunar camera/sectrograph. (NASA)

George Robert Carruthers: Astronautical Engineer and Astronomer

Astronautical engineer and astronomer George Robert Carruthers, a name well-known and dearly regarded in the space science community, and a good friend of the National Air and Space Museum, passed away on Saturday, December 26 after a long illness.

Two prominent lobate thrust fault scarps on Mercury, Discovery Rupes and Beagles Rupes, imaged by Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft. Discovery Rupes (left), named for the ship HMS Discovery, shown here in a MDIS high-incidence angle image mosaic, was first imaged by Mariner 10 in the mid-1970’s. Beagle Rupes (right), a bow-shaped fault scarp, was initial imaged during MESSENGER’s first flyby.

Mercury, The Not So Shrunken Planet

Based on my research, which include image composites of two flyby views of Mercury from the MESSENGER spacecraft, I conclude that Mercury has not cooled and shrunken as much as previously thought.

NASA astronaut and Pilot Victor Glover launched from the International Space Station on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission. (SpaceX)

Five Things We Learned from Victor Glover

Discover what it's really like to live and work in space! Astronaut Victor Glover shares his thoughts and little-known facts about being an astronaut.

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Surface System Test-Bed (SSTB) is nearly identical to the MER twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity that landed on Mars in 2004. Photo by Mark Avino, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM2020-00501).

A Mars Rover Lands in Virginia

A new Mars rover has landed at the Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Surface System Test-Bed (SSTB) is nearly identical to the MER twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity that landed on Mars in 2004. What makes the SSTB different, however, is that it was designed for use on Earth.

This American flag was left on the International Space Station by the crew of STS-135, the last space shuttle mission, with the intention of it being retrieved by the next crew to launch from American soil.

Launching Astronauts from American Soil: Why is it Important?

Curator Margaret Weitekamp reflects on the return of human spaceflight from US soil, and the implications of that capability throughout history.

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